Apparatus for cutting a continuous length of material at intervals



March 4, 1958 Niw. JACKSON 2,325,376

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF MATERIAL AT INTERVALS FiledNov. 23, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN l/EN TOR A TTOR NE rs APPARATUS FORCUTTING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH Mifclf'dTTQSSf N w. JACKSON 2,825,376

0F MATERIAL AT INTERVALS Filed Nov. 23, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INI/EN TOQ yaw 44, w

BY ram 4% M &

A TTORNEYS "Mifb'H4, T958 N. w. JACKSON APPARATUS FOR CUTTING ACONTINUOUS LENGTH OF MATERIAL AT INTERVALS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed NOV.23, 1954 /N VENTOR Cal BY WaZ-Lvv ATTOENE YS United States aten'tAPPARATUS FOR CUTTENG A CGNTINUQUS LENGTH OF MATERIAl AT INTERVAILSNorman Walter Jackson, Deptford, London, England, as-

signor to Molins Machine Company Limited, London,

England; a British company Application November 23, 1954, Serial No.473,733

Claims priority, application Great Britain NovemberZfi, 1953 3 Glaims.(Cl. 146-95) Thist invention concerns improvements in or relating toapparatus in which a continuous length (e; g. stream) ofirnaterialis cutinto separate lengths while being fed lengthwise. One example of suchapparatus is a continuous rod cigarette-making machine for. makingmouthpiece cigarettes, in which a continuous stream of un- "wrappedtobacco is fed lengthwise and is cut at intervals to producewseparatelengths of tobacco which can'b'e spaced apart-endwise to enablemouthpiece portions to be insertedbet-Ween them, and a continuoustobacco filler, consisting of tobacco lengths and mouthpiece portions inalternation, canthus beformed.

in those constructions a stream of unwrapped tobacco is severed atintervals by a narrow knife blade which cuts across the tobacco stream.The knife blade'is'mounted ona rotating knife holderand cuts the streamonce during each revolution of the knife-holder; Thus, if the knifeis-arranged with its cuttingpart at a conveniently short distance fromits axis of rotation, its speed in passing throughthe. stream may beless rapid than is desirable in order to makea clean, square cut and'toavoid holding up the movingstream, or of the-length cut from it, by.theblade passing through the tobacco According; to. the presentinvention there is provided apparatus. in which a continuous length of.material is cut into separate lengths. while being fed lengthwise (e. g.apparatusformaking mouthpiece cigarettes, in which a stream of:unwrapped tobacco is cut into lengths) comprising cutting means to cutthe continuous length of materiaL at desired intervals, the said meanscomprising a. rotatable'cutter, arranged to be moved (e. g. swung)bodilyto and from a-cutting-position at which it can cut thc said'continuous length, and arranged to rotate through more than one completerevolution duringeach bodily movement to and from said cutting position.a

The expression continuous length of material as used herein is to beunderstood as inciuding any continuous length ofmaterial adapted to becut into separate lengths while moving lengthwise. Oneexample of such acontinuous length is a continuous stream or unwrappedtobaccoasrefe'rredlto above. A further example is acon- 'tiiiuduscigaretterod formed one cigarette-making maicliin'e, while astilliurther example is a composite rod consisting of lengths of tobaccoand mouthpiece material in alternation. I V 'Rrefer'ablythesaidrotatablecutter comprises a narrow knife blade mounted on a rotatingknife h'older. V The apparatus may comprise a rotatable drivingmemberand'a' drivingconnection between said driving memher and saidcutter whereby the latter is rotated at a greaterangular speed than thatof the driving member, the saidcutter being arranged for bodily swingingmovefirearm andfrom said cutting position, and connected t'o saiddriving'member so as who swung in timed relation 'siiip'with therotation of said driving member.

The said driving connection for the cutting means may compriseadrivedm'ember rotatable with said cutter and a"furtherrotatablemember"arranged to drive said driven member and. about whose axisthe saidcutter and driven member are arranged to swing, the said furtherrotatable 'member being arranged to be rotated by said rotatable drivingmember- The cutter may be connected to said rotatable driving member bylinkage connecting the latter to a swingable part in which the cutter ismounted for rotation. The said linkage may comprise a crank on saiddriving memher and a link connecting said crank tosaid swingable partwhereby the latter is caused to swing through a complete cycle during.each revolution of said driving member.

Further according to the invention there is provided cutting mechanismcomprising a rotatable cutter, a rotatable drivingmember, gearingconnecting said driving member to said cutter to cause the latter torotate at a greater angular speed than that of the said driving memher,said gearing including a. driven gear rotatable with said cutter and afurther gear in driving engagement with said driven gear and about whoseaxis. ofrotation the said driven gear and said cutter are arranged forbodily swinging movement so as to cause the cutter to swing toand awayfromza cutting position, and linkage connecting said driving: member tosaid cutter and driven gear so as'to cause the cutter and driven gear tobe swung about said axis in timed relationship withthe rotation of saiddriving member. a

The said linkage may comprise a crank on said driving member and a linkconnecting said driving member to a swinging part in which said cutterand driven gear are rotatably mounted. 7

As the cutter and the-driven gear which rotates therewith are bodily.swingabl e about the axis oiv rotation of. a further gear which drivesthe driven gear, the speed of rotation of the cutter will vary since thedriven gear will roll on the said further gear first in one directionand then in theother as itswingsto and: fro. For thisreason the angularspeedof the cutter. is not: in a fixed ratio to that of the rotatabledriving member, but is nevertheless at all times determinedby theangular speed of the driving member. Asit is desired to cause thecutterto rotate at a relatively highspeed, the mechanism is preferablyarrangedso that the cutting occurs at a:tirnewhen the driven gear isbeing swung in opposition to the direction of rotation of the saidfurther gear which drivesit, so that the cutter is at-the momentofcutting ro-tating at its maximum speed.

Apparatus according to the invention will now be described by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 7

Figure 1 is aside elevation of apparatus for making mouthpiececigarettes in. which a continuous stream of tobaccois cutatintervals andstubs are'inserted between cutlengt-hsof tobacco;-

Figure 2. is a'sectionalside view of cutting apparatus;

Figure '3 is aiviewtakenonthe line III-411 in Figure 2; and.

Figure? 4- is aside elevation of some of the apparatus shown in Figure2.

Referring first'to Figure 'l, the apparatus illustratedcomprisesatobacco tape 1 arranged to bemoved' beneath a hopper (notshown) through a trough laat varying speeds. A guidetube 2 and afurtherguide tube3 are provided to receive a tobacco stream from the taped andguide it. on to a paper web 4 carried by a tape 5. Cutting -mechanism,.which Will'shortly be described, ,is provided in order to cut the streamat intervals between the tubes) 2 and 3.

each cutting operatibn so as to allow a space to" develop between thecutlen'gth; is fed forwardly by the paper web,'and' the leading end ofthe uncut stream. Thereafter the speed of the tape Isis increasedtoatspeed such as to enable it to deliver the uncut filler on to the paperwebatsubstantiallyrthe speed of the web 4, and

speed until:the next cuttingoperation; j s i s r The cutting mechanism;illustrated in'outline i11 dotted i the uncut fillers isathus fed on" tothe paper vviebf at; that anamake e i linesin Figure 1,.is best shown inFigures '2, B and 4; .j

a it comprises a rotatable knife carrier 6 in which isfclamped a thin,narrow knife blade 7 adapted to pass'through the space between the tubes2 and 3 on each revolution 7 of the knife 'carrier 6 The carrier 6isfiked at o 'n'eiendi -of a shaft 8 which is rotatable '-in ,bearings Qmounted in'a swingable bracket 10. At the other end of the sha ftt '8 isfixed .a gear 11 having 22 teeth; which geanmeshes with, and is arrangedto be driven by,ra further gear 12' which has 60iteeth I i The gear 12is formed, on a sleeve on which is also i formed'asgear 14 which has '30teeth. Thegear 14 meshes with, and is driven by, a main driving gear :15

fixed on the end of a driving shaft 16.. The gear 15' has S Steeth. j it it 7 7 Thus the angular speed of th e gear 15'relatively to the gear11, and to the knife carrier 6,tis 1 to 5. g I Theswingable bracketwhich carries the shafts is arranged to swing about a fixed shaft 17.The sleeve13 with gears 12' and 14 is also freely rotatable in bearings18 about thetshaft 17. tThus the knife carrier 6'is a -bo'dilyswingable, with the bracket 10, about the of rotation of the ;gear' 12which drives the gear 11 to ro ta'tethe knife'carrier. t a

r The main driving 'gear15has haedto it a cra nk idisc "19 which hasformed'on it an eccentric boss :Ztlon which is pivoted a link 21; a Thebracket 10 has an extension :2 2,'

whose shape can'best'be seen from Figures} andffl 'and the link 211ispivoted to this extension so as to provide a QIinkageconnecting thedriving gear to'the' knife car-- frier 6 and driven gearfll In Figure 3is shown in the dotand dashlline marked P, the circular path of theec- Vcentric'boss 20. on rotation of the gear 15. As will'be seen, thisarrangement causes the ,bracke tslfl-to swing of the gear 15. duringwhich period of coursethe driven geardll and knife carrier 6' turnthroughgfive revolutions.

' The throw of the crank and the linkage between it and thebracket 10 issuch that the knife 7 is caused to' 'For convenience of illustration theangular position' of the knife 7 as shown in Figure 3 is 90 differentfrom thatin which the knife is shownin Figure 2, while in as such f ormno part of the 'present inventionrt "formed as a disc having a concaverim as; itidicated'fat: '25, and'provided with three projectingpusherfpins 2 6.

i 'Above the wheel 23 is a stub-feeding device (not s hown) tance fromits axis of rotation.

11 over the gear 12 is opposed to; the iiirctiii' of' rota-j tion of thegear 12, and thus the gear 11 is rotated ata' faster speed'than would bethe case if the bracket 10 were :1

stationary. Thus in the arrangement described and" 'shown, at. themoment when -the knife "cuts the stream;

the gear 11 and knife'carriei 6 are rotating at a speed in the'regionfbfsix times thesp'eed pr rqga iqnjor the gear 15 and main driving shaft16; a r p 7 It will be appreciated-that inacaisewhere-aknife is arrangedto cut the tobacco stream once diiring eachrevo t lution of itscarrier,in: order to 'enable the knife to" betnecess ary to mount it atan'inconveriiently great dis- As both the rotation and the 'sw' carrier6 are controlled by the 'driv'ing'shaft 16; the tim- "ing of the cutterfor different lengths which it may be desired to cut from the stream iseasily adju'stedbylvarying the speed of rotation of the shaft 16. i

i The remaining parts of the apparatus shown inFig u'reJ 1 will bebriefly described, since they concern the; insertion V of stubs intospaces between 'cut lengths of tobacco and This mechanism comprises astubwheel'23: mo for rotation, in the direction shown by the arrow; on]a shaft 24 (see also Figure 2); f The stub-whel 23-is comprising afluted drum'by which double-length stubs" are intermittentlyfeddowniirisuccessionitot a position to be engaged-by each of the pins26 in turn An arc'uate 7 a i -t'guidei27 is provided to {guide stubs andprevent them i i to and fro about the shaft 17 once during eachrevolution 7 Figure 1 in' order to show the knife in lines it has beenillustrated in a'still different position.

7 The purpose of the arrangement just described is'to 7 cause the knife7 to rotate at a high speed so as to pass rapidlvthrough the stream oftobacco moving through cutting position only once during each revolutionof the 7 cause theschainstowbe kepttight. the guide tubes;2-and3. As theknife is brought into a i The swinging of the bracket 1 0 about th e'shaft causescgear ll to roll on gear 12. Accor'dingly the speed ofrhtation of the gear ll' a ndlthe knifeciarrier V 6 varies according to;the' direction 'in 'which'ith'ey are;

swingingtwith thebracket'lO. 7 As the purppse ofithis ap 'jparatus' isto increase- .the cuttingt speed of the; knijejthe'mechanismisaccordingly so arrangedgand timed thatthe knife 7 passesbetween'the tubes 2j'and13, tosjcut 'the i move at the faster speed as apin '26 is app foachirig the i paper web 4 and pushing a stub 'into aspacelbetween i a cut tobacco length and the uncutttobaccolstreanit 7Omediately thereafter thetreturn swing 'offthe 'bracke'ti34 tobaccostream at an instant just after the'brackt 10has i swin in; he sr r f flQ ,I i thislreverse dr am .completeditsiswing in a direction towardstheguideltubes .(i. e.ttgwards the right inFigure 3) and has stai'fd toiteail he r n r ue-3') me ronome crime e '75 @paperweb. 4 The drivengear 31 rotates at I two-thirds; the angular sp'eed'qfsthe driving gear3 2, an d atj'twice theangular from falling' away fro theTrirnfof thevvhe'el' isjuinir they reach a; position at on the papersfwebfi.

The Wheel 23 is driven by a chain 2 8s passing 'overi a sprocket 29fixed tothe wheel.'- 'The chain 28 is driven t by a sprocket 30, whichhas'fixedtto it agearzwheel 31 a bracket 34 which is freelypivoted.about the shaftf33. Also mounted on'the bracket 34is a camfollowing rollet' 35, which is capable'of engaginga cam'consistirigiof'a rotatable eccentric discj36, A spring 37;:fixed lori the" V V,bracket34 urges the bracket about itspivot so as toipres sthelcam-follower 35 jagainst the rim of the eccentric disc 36. -;:Itshould be noted here that the eccentricityfof the disc 36 i'ssvery small and cannot easilyjbefperceivegl in'the drawing." 7

The chain 28 also rpasses overja guide sprocket mounted on a pivotedarm'39 which'is Urg d about its 5 pivot in a'clockwiseldirection'by aspring 40,'so as to t The cam disc 36 is arranged to cause swingslightly to and ,froaboutthe shaft 33 three times j during' eachsrevolution-r of the. wheel 23, When the bracket 34 swings" clockwise, as.viewed iri' Figure11}.the

sprocket 30, being'carried towards the 'left in thevfigiire, imparts asmall increment toethe speed'of the chain. 2 8 in excess of thatgivensto the-chain by rotatioiiiofrthe sprocket 30. c 'On the returnswing the speed of tthe fchain' is correspondingly slightly redficed.These 'swin'gin'g movements are so timed as to cause the wheel'f 23t tocauses the wheed' 23: toijslow down so th'afthe pin-26; tliemoves with aforward speed i approximately 7 that ing'injg of the knife whichtheyfaretohbe deposited s speed of the sprocket 29 and wheel 23. Thusthe wheel 23 makes one revolution during every three revolutions of thedriving shaft 33.

A tobacco-engaging element 140 with a serrated end 1 is pivoted at 42 onan arm 43 and is also pivoted at 44 on a crank disc 45, by which itsserrated end is caused to move into and out of the path of tobaccolengths and stubs on the paper web, following the path indicated indot-and-dash lines, and traveling towards the left, in Figure 1, whenmoving in its lower path. The element 146 performs this movement threetimes during each revolution of the stub-wheel 23, and is timed andarranged to engage tobacco immediately behind each stub inserted by thestub-wheel, and to move at approximately the speed of the paper web 4while so engaging tobacco. To engage the tobacco it passes through aslot 46 in a tongue 47.

The apparatus as a whole operates as follows. The tape 1 carries acontinuous stream of tobacco and delivers it through the guide tubes 2and 3 on to the paper web 4. Periodically the speed of the tape 1 istemporarily greatly reduced and just before each such speed reductionthe knife 7 is caused to pass between the two guide tubes so as to cutthe stream. The cut length continues to move with the paper web, whilethe uncut stream lags behind until the speed of the tape 1 is againincreased. By that time a space has been developed between the cutlength and the leading end of the uncut stream. A double-length stub isinserted into this space by a pusher pin 26 on the stub-wheel 23, whichmoves at varying speeds so that the stub is pushed into the space with afaster forward speed than that of the paper web and the tobacco carriedthereby, and immediately thereafter the wheel slows down slightly sothat the pusher pin moves with a forward speed approximately the same asthe paper speed. As the tobacco and stubs pass beneath the tongue 47 theelement 14!) engages the tobacco immediately behind the stub and movesforwardly with it at approximately the speed of the paper web, thuscontrolling the tobacco speed and preventing it from lagging behind thestub.

Subsequently the paper web 4 is wrapped and secured about the tobaccoand stubs to form a continuous composite rod, which is cut atappropriate intervals to produce mouthpiece cigarettes.

The lengths of tobacco cut from the tobacco stream are each double thelength required in the tobacco portion of a mouthpiece cigarette, andthus the composite rod is cut midway through each tobacco portion andthrough each double-length stub.

The timing of the cutting mechanism and the timing of the means to varythe speed of the tape 1 are of course correlated according to theintervals at which it is desired to cut the stream, which depends uponthe size of cigarette to be made. It will be seen, also, that the speedof rotation of the stub-wheel 23, and the timing of the element 140,must also be correlated with the operation of the cutting mechanism.Accordingly the cutting mechanism, the stub wheel, and the element 140,as well as the means for varying the speed of the tape 1, can all bedriven from a common source through suitable gearing.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. in apparatus for cutting a continuous length of material atintervals, cutting means comprising a swingable knife support member, arotatable fly knife carried by said support member, a driven gearcarried by said support member and rotatable with said knife to rotatethe latter, a driving gear in driving engagement with said driven gear,said knife support member being mounted for oscillatory swingingmovement about the am's of said drivin gear, means to rotate saiddriving gear, and means to oscillate said knife support member in timedrelationship with the rotation of said driving gear so as to move therotating knife bodily back and forth toward and away from a position atwhich it can cut the said continuous length of material.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means to rotate saiddriving gear comprises a further gear wheel, and the means to oscillatethe knife support member comprises a crank on said further gear wheel,and a link connecting said crank to said knife support member wherebythe latter is oscillated through a complete cycle during each revolutionof said further gear.

3. A cutting device for cutting a continuous length of material atintervals, comprising a driving shaft, a first driving gear mounted onsaid shaft, a further shaft parallel with said driving shaft, a firstdriven gear rotatable on said further shaft and meshing with said firstdriving gear, a second driving gear rotatable with said first drivengear on said further shaft, a knife support member swingably mounted onsaid further shaft for oscillation about the axis of the latter, asecond driven gear rotatably mounted on said knife support member andmeshing with said second driving gear, a fly knife carried by said knifesupport member and rotatable by said second driven gear, a crank on saidfirst driving gear, and linkage connecting said crank to said knifesupport member so as to oscillate the latter through a complete cycleduring each revolution of said first driving gear, whereby the saidknife is moved bodily by said knife support member toward and away froma cutting position, the ratios of said driving and driven gears beingsuch that the knife rotates through a plurality of revolutions for eachrevolution of said first driving gear.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS827,227 Freeman July 31, 1906 1,226,066 Du Brul May 15, 1917 1,286,968Ewers Dec. 10, 1918 1,851,334 Stein et a1 Mar. 29, 1932

